Which LEGO Sets Are Not Valuable Collectibles…
Over the past few years, the idea of LEGO sets as potentially valuable "collectibles" has really taken hold in the LEGO community. With the growth in popularity of LEGO bricks in general and the explosion of the LEGO secondary market sites like eBay, Amazon, Bricklink, Brick Owl and Brick Classifieds, LEGO fans are beginning to realize that older and retired LEGO sets can appreciate in value to impressive levels. Iconic sets like the 10179 Ultimate Collector Series Millennium Falcon and 10189 Taj Mahal are now valued at close to $5000.00 (US) and $3000.00 (US) respectively. While these two sets are the cream of the crop, many other LEGO sets exhibit solid growth on the LEGO secondary market after they retire. In fact, the "average" LEGO set appreciates about 10-12% annually according to our site data. Well, as with many things in life, there are winners and there are losers, and LEGO sets are no different. There are LEGO sets that can be considered "losers" in the world of collectible LEGO sets. Yes, some LEGO sets lose value after retirement and never recover. Let's take a look at some of the worst appreciating LEGO sets currently on the LEGO secondary market:
First off, let me apologize for not including the UK data on the chart. Our US data pulls from a larger pool of sales, thus giving us a better indicator in a situation like this as to which sets are poor performers. That being said, a quick analysis of the "Loser List" would indicate mostly unlicensed sets, with only one STAR WARS and DC Comics set on the list. I chose to display only thirteen sets for effect, but the makeup of the bottom- dwelling sets remains pretty consistent throughout the bottom 50 to 100 sets, mainly non-licensed LEGO sets. As the reader can see, the Legends of Chima theme unfortunately has a large amount of sets near or at the bottom. You can say they are "leaders in depreciation." The large Space theme, which includes subthemes like Galaxy Squad and Alien Conquest, also has quite a few sets underperforming on the LEGO secondary markets. While the Ninjago theme does have a few sets near the bottom, they are recently retired so it is might skew the data slightly. The majority of the poorest performing sets have been retired for about two years, so there is hope that these two Ninjago recover at some point.
So what can we conclude from this snapshot of subpar sets? For one, the Legends of Chima sets are one to avoid if you are a serious collector looking for appreciation. It would also seem that any Space-related themes like Galaxy Squad and Alien Conquest also perform poorly on the LEGO secondary markets. That is not to say they are poorly designed sets or unpopular sets among children, quite to the contrary. Some of the most popular themes among children (...and top sellers on the primary LEGO market) such as CITY, Space, Legends of Chima, Creator and STAR WARS have multiple sets on the bottom 50. Personally, I really love a lot of the poorest performing sets. With a six-year-old son, I get firsthand experience building and playing with many STAR WARS, Space and Legends of Chima sets. What is strange is that many of these sets retire quickly, but I suppose so many are produced, none are really rare in nature. One point that should be made though is that many of these sets can be purchased at extreme discounts, so the actual appreciation of many of these bottom dwellers could be much, much higher if the set was bought at a fraction of the MSRP. Also, it should be noted that, in my experience, given some time, many poor performing sets do find a second life in the LEGO secondary markets, so patience does pay off at times. Regardless, the "LEGO Losers" are losers in secondary market appreciation only. Most of these sets are fun builds, creative and winners in my book. I mean, after all, LEGO sets are meant to be built and enjoyed...right?
